A recent study published in the academic journal Nature Climate Change by UCLA geography doctoral student Scott Stephenson is the first to quantify the effect of climate change on transportation systems in the Arctic. We already know that melting ice is causing the oceans to open up and the ground to defrost, leading to greater […]
The Global Commission on Drug Policy releases a study today that is unusually stark: “global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world.” It contends the “war on drugs” strategy needs to change by focusing more on demand, while acknowledging that US policy—America is the largest demand-source for drugs […]
Putin may have waited a week after the sinking of the Kursk to even comment on the submarine disaster that claimed 118 lives, but his government virtually leapt to ban all EU vegetables in response to an E Coli. outbreak that has not even reached Russia. If only the government were this fast at reacting […]
Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Ichiro Ozawa said late Wednesday that he plans to break off from the DPJ and form a new party if the no-confidence motion in DPJ Prime Minister Naoto Kan fails. One hundred members of Kan’s own party are loyal to Ozawa, and 50 of those members plan to side with […]
This is a piece by Robert Lattin of FPA Blogs, who covers Israel. His full profile can be viewed here: http://israel.foreignpolicyblogs.com/author/robertlattin/ With every passing day, security is becoming a greater concern for the average Egyptian. There have been several reports of attacks on the country’s Coptic population, which constitutes over 10 million people and random acts […]
Jairam Ramesh, India’s maverick environment minister, has raised hackles by questioning the caliber of the country’s premier technology institutions. Yet the angry reactions to his comments are surprising, since his criticism contains nothing that other high-ranking officials in the Union government have not already said.
In this multi-polar world we live in, cooperation among the top three world powers (U.S., China, EU – see my previous post on ‘Triangle World Order’) will be paramount in fixing global problems like the global economic recession, climate change, nuclear proliferation, and now the developments in North Africa and the Middle East. Such efforts […]
As the date for general elections in Thailand draws ever closer, the complexity of the situation has commonly been acknowledged by Southeast Asian commentators, especially with respect to the unknown status of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. This reality was only augmented following recent statements and actions by some of the parties involved this past […]
Federal officials announced Tuesday that two Iraqi nationals have been arrested in Bowling Green, Kentucky on charges that they conspired to provide weapons and money to al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).
Daniel Drezner seems dumbfounded by the German government’s actions on both the eurozone bailout and nuclear energy and proposes a Merkel Algorithm as the explanation: 1) A problem festers; 2) Dither and do nothing; 3) Public opinion polls drop; 4) Let things fester some more; 5) Lose an election somewhere; 6) Announce new policy that […]
U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Jorge Bustamante, presented a report on his findings during his visit to Japan in March last year to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday. He criticized the Japanese government’s discrimination towards foreign schools, and urged it to do more in guaranteeing the rights of foreign […]
One can find Khartoum morally abhorrent. One can find Sudan’s regime to be a travesty on human rights. I do on both counts. But you’ve got to hand it to them — from a pure realpolitik/power politics vantage point, Omar al-Bashir and company sure know how the game is played. On Sunday the Northern Sudanese […]
Christine Lagarde visited Brazil on Sunday to buoy her candidacy for the IMF’s top post. At a press conference Lagarde stated: “I will ensure that the Fund represents the diversity of all its members.’’ She went on to indicate that a European should not automatically head the IMF. Perhaps this should be the last time? […]